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Help! Woodruff key rolled, now I can't get the timing set right.


EarthsfireBT
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Ok, so, I have a 1987 pathfinder, VG30i engine. Was driving home a couple weeks ago and the woodruff key on the crank rolled. I got a new key and pulled intake and heads to make sure that I didn't bend any valves and luckily I didn't, engine is holding compression as well since I have everything back together. Here's my problem though, it's acting like it's missing or just not in time. I put the #1 piston at TCD when I had the heads off, the timing marks on the cams aren't exact on the dimples, but from what I've been reading that's normal. I have counted teeth and there are 40 teeth between the cams and 43 teeth between LH cam and crank timing marks so from what I can tell everything is in time with the crank/cams. I have pulled and replaced the distributor multiple times moving 1 tooth at a time to check and see if I possibly had it in the wrong spot but it seems that it is in the correct spot. It will start, but it's really really rough and it's smoking and you can smell gas in the exhaust really bad like it's running rich or not firing on a piston on two. Is there anything that I missed that I should check, or does anyone have any ideas of what might be wrong? 

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Yeah, the dimples aren't exact, and the count is right, so you should be good there. Have you tried adjusting the timing by turning the distributor while it's running? Do you have a timing light? Hopefully it's something simple, sounds like you've already ruled out the worst. If changing the timing makes no difference, I'd check any sensors or other wiring you disturbed while digging into the timing, especially the coolant temp sensor.

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Is the slot in the crankshaft where the key goes ok? That is what happened to the original engine in my 93. The key failed for the crankshaft sprocket and damaged the crankshaft. It couldn't hold the new key tight enough to keep the sprocket tight. If the crankshaft sprocket is able to move at all, the cam timing will not be correct with the crank and the engine will be very unhappy. My solution was to transplant a 3.3 engine in my truck. 

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Ok, I've acquired and checked with a timing light and I have it in time, but it sure isn't acting like it. The wiring seems fine.  The slot for the key is a little rough but not much, so I'm going to see about filling it in and seeing if that works. 

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I got a year and a half of use out of mine with JB weld when it first happened, but over time it got a little bit of play in it and wound up tearing out the slot in the crankshaft. 

I wish you better luck than I had. Mine didn't have much play at first either. Apparently that sprocket has a lot more loading on it than it looks. 

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  • 1 month later...

Hi Everyone,

Newbie here. I had to change the water pump, and the timing belt was about do on my 87 Path SE VG30i, so I thought I'd do that as well. Everything went smooth, except the R Cam gear jumped and had to be turned back to line up the marks. Timing belt went on and everything was seemingly in sync (Piston #1 at TDC, distance of teeth correct like EarthsfireBT, and turned distributor like Slartibartfast). Fired it up and it sounded like crap on a stick (sounded like valved hitting), so I shut it down and stripped it again. I have the R Valve Cover off so I can see whats going on. My concern is that forcing the Cam Gear back to the mark may have misaligned the cam and the valves are now hitting the pistons. I'm at a loss as to what the issue may be as everything appears to be aligned correctly. It sounds like I'm missing something stupid and simple, so I don't want to strip the heads off if I don't have to (yet). Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

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